


a tale of a thousand shining stars

by eliizabethyork



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Baby Mango Is Here!, Buck begins keeping a journal for his new niece, Chapter count is tentative, F/M, Fluff, Grandma Athena!!, Grandpa Bobby!, Life's wonderful moments, Lots of it, M/M, More tags to be added, There's Gonna Be Some Angst Along the Way Tho, This was supposed to be a oneshot but as usual it blew up, Upcoming Buck/Albert, because fuck baby boxes and the trauma that comes with them, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:41:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29494473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliizabethyork/pseuds/eliizabethyork
Summary: I wish you an incredible life, my girl.Love, Uncle Evan..Buck starts keeping a journal after his niece is born.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Bobby Nash, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Maddie Buckley, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Albert Han (9-1-1 TV), Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Comments: 15
Kudos: 77





	a tale of a thousand shining stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [celestialamore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialamore/gifts).



[[ music ]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BXTKNFSuiU)

.

.

Buck couldn’t remember being this tired. He had just gotten off of a twenty four hour shift at the station, the temperature had already hit eighty at seven in the morning, and here he was, like an idiot, running to Cedars-Sinai Hospital because he couldn’t get a cab. 

Maddie was having the baby. The call had come from Chimney less than an hour ago. Apparently she had gone into labor just after midnight but wouldn’t let him take her to the hospital right away. And now it was T minus ten and Buck was pretty sure he was going to pass out. A car is honking at his right - he had slowed down to a slow jog. The hospital was just a few blocks ahead and he could _definitely_ make it and - _“Hey!”_

What the fuck - _Albert._ “Albert?” 

The younger man waved goofily at him, bringing the car down to a slow crawl. “Get in!” Who was he to argue?

The rest of the ride went rather smoothly, him sweating his ass off in the front seat of Albert’s SUV. “When did you get the call?” 

Albert chuckled. “Around 5. I was up already trying to cram for the bio midterm at 2. Thank God she’s having the baby early - my professor said he wouldn’t accept any excuses for missing the exam - not even birth of niece or loss of limb.” He laughed merrily at his own joke, abruptly moving the car into the next lane to pull into the parking lot of the hospital. Buck rolled his eyes, biting down the smile that had risen on his face. 

The next thing he knows, a grumpy receptionist is telling them that the maternity ward is on the third floor and wrinkling her nose at him. He doesn’t smell _that_ bad - there’s no time to really argue that because Albert is grabbing him by the collar and frogmarching him to the elevator like a little kid. The elevators swallow them up and the ride seems endless. His fingers tap out a nervous pattern on the wall, coming to a stop once those doors open again and holy shit there’s Chimney stumbling through a pair of pink double doors. 

“Chim!” Albert shouts, ignoring the glares they got from the people passing by. Chimney seemed to sag in relief at the sight of them, and when he pitches forward a bit, Albert grabs his arm, propping him up against the wall. Buck’s pretty sure his heart is going to burst out of his chest, worry clenching his stomach. “How’s Maddie?” 

And then the smile the older man gives them is like the sun shining through storm clouds. “We have our girl.” 

This time Buck’s the one that falls forward, hands on his knees as he gasps out a breath. Chimney’s hand lands on his shoulder, the other on Albert’s elbow and he looks lighter than air. “How’s Maddie? Is she okay?” Buck asks again. 

“She’s perfect. They took her and the baby into recovery a few minutes ago. I -” 

A nurse sticks her head out the doors. “Mr. Han? She’s ready for you.” 

Chimney looks back at them. “Go, go,” Albert waves his hand. “We’ll be right here waiting.” 

Once those double doors swing shut Buck lets out a shuddering breath. “I hafta - uh - I have to call the folks.” 

Albert slides down into one of the hard plastic chairs. “Yeah I suppose our dad needs to know. And the Lees.” 

Buck follows suit, pulling out his phone. His fingers hesitate over the screen, hovering over Phillip Buckley’s name before finally tapping. The call goes through but he’s not surprised when it goes to voicemail. “ _This is Phillip Buckley. Leave your name and number and I will return your call when I can.”_ The soft _beep_ follows and Buck sighs. 

“Hey Dad, just calling to let you know Maddie had the baby about twenty minutes ago. As far as I know, she and the baby are doing great. I’m waiting to see her. Uh - call me back.” When he ends the call and lowers his phone, Albert’s eyes are on him, drawn with empathy and to his relief, not one ounce of pity. “I’ll wait on calling everyone else. They’re gonna wanna rush down here and -” 

“-- cause a big ruckus,” Albert finishes with a fond smile. “I getcha.” 

And that’s it. No more words need to be said between them, the silence that follows is comfortable and content. They don’t have to wait long, Chimney coming back out with a nurse at his side. “Guys? They’re ready for you.” 

_They._ Not just ‘she’ but ‘ _they.’_ There’s a whole other person in there waiting for them. 

The nurse holds up two scrub gowns. “Normally we’d only let one of you back there at a time but there’s a very bossy new mother insisting on seeing the both of you. So put these on over your clothes and -” she gestures to a sink to their right as they walk through the doors. “ - wash your hands thoroughly and then I will take you to them.” 

They do as instructed, Buck scrubbing until his hands turned pink. His phone buzzes at his hip and he ignores it, following Chimney’s soft gait down a narrow hallway and to a room marked with the numbers ‘341’. Albert nudges his back, making him go first and he must really look like he’s about to keel over because the nurse is grabbing his elbow. 

Maddie is sitting up in bed, the smallest bundle wrapped in her arms. Her normally curly bob is pulled back into a stubby ponytail at her neck, sweaty tendrils falling down around her face, which beams at the sight of them. “Hey.” 

The nurse is gently pushing him towards the chair at Maddie’s right, and he settles in it heavily. When he looks back, Chimney and Albert are gone but he can hear their soft chatter right outside the door. His heart swells with affection for the two men as his attention draws back to women beside him. His niece’s face is so small, the tip of her little nose bright pink and her eyes screwed shut in a furious little grimace as she sleeps. Her mouth is shaped like a bow and open just so and when he strains his ears he can hear the tiniest snores. “She’s…” Tears burn in his eyes and he hastily wipes them away. “She’s _perfect.”_

His sister emits a tired noise of agreement. “She certainly is.” 

Buck looks up at her. “How are you feeling? Did it all go okay?” 

“It did,” Maddie gently strokes the baby’s nose with the tip of her finger. “It was so smooth, I couldn’t really believe it. And then suddenly, there she was, screaming at the top of her lungs and looking rather pissed.” A sudden sob cracks her chest. “I was so scared, Buck. For just a moment, I _thought -_ and then I heard her cry and -” 

“All was right in the world,” he finishes for her. Maddie nods, wiping at her tears with her free hand. The baby’s foot had come uncovered from her blankets and he reached up to brush his finger across it. A laugh bubbles as he watches the socked toes curl up at his touch. “I’m so proud of you, Maddie.” The look that crosses his sister’s face is worth more than anything in the world. 

“Do you -” Maddie nods at the sleeping baby, laughing at what must be a rather terrified expression he wears. “She doesn’t bite.” 

“No - no, it’s okay, I might -” 

He tries to shift back, to pull away and suddenly Chimney is there, telling him not to be dumb and gently picking up his daughter from her mother and placing her in his clumsy hold. “There, make sure you support her head -” Chimney’s moving his left hand, touch gentle, and easing it behind the baby’s head. “There you go. How do you feel?” 

_Scared shitless_. “Fine.” 

“You look good with a baby, Buckley,” Albert says, throwing an arm around Chimney’s shoulders. 

Maddie raises her brows, shaking her head. Buck ignores him. “Shut up, Han.” 

Albert laughs, letting Chimney shrug him off before he leans down to kiss Maddie’s cheek. “How are you feeling, tiger?” 

Easing backwards into her pillows, Maddie scoffs out a pained sigh. “Oh, I’m just nifty.” 

Buck snorts, eyes taking in his niece’s face. She has midnight black hair, so soft to the touch. Her ears are still squashed against the sides of her head, but he can tell that they are going to look like his own. Maddie’s chin, Chimney’s nose, he can even see a bit of Albert in there too in the curve of her cheeks. “Did you guys pick out a name?” The gasp he hears makes him look up. “What?” 

“Uh -” Maddie covers her mouth, horror in her eyes. “No. We got so used to calling her ‘Mango’ that we never -“

“That’s it, we’re off to a good start in being the worst parents in the world.” 

_Pfft, please._ “You’ll think of something.” 

“Yeah!” Albert agrees. “The right name will just pop right at you.” He flaps his hands for the added dramatic effect and gets three snorts and a whine from the baby in response. 

“Han, get over here and hold your niece.” 

-;

He wasn’t too far off. The rest of the family did lose their shit when they heard, but managed to do it quietly. 

Bobby and Athena were there first, and to his surprise, May was with them too. The teen greeted Maddie first with a gentle hug before looking at the baby that Bobby and Athena were currently cooing over, sounding quite like a pair of pigeons with the noises they were making. The little mango seemed to like the attention, kicking her feet right out of her bundle. “No, no, no, small one, you don’t do that,” Bobby tucked her feet back into the blankets with an expert hand and Buck’s heart ached for the older man. “Maddie, Chim, she’s precious.” 

“We like her,” Chimney offers with a tired smile, half of his body resting on the bed beside Maddie. 

Hen was next. “I come bearing gifts!” she whisper-yelled as she tiptoed into the room. 

Albart jumped up to help her, catching at the enormous armful of balloons wrapped around her wrist, threatening to pull her right off her feet. “How many balloons do you have here?” His fingers worked the ties from her wrist. “Thirty, forty?” 

“Twenty-two and what’s it to you, little Han?” Hen dared him to argue and to Albert’s personal safety, he did not. One purple balloon with _It’s a girl!_ on the side was trying to make it's escape right out the door and Buck grabbed it, tying the string around the arm of the chair. “Now gimee that baby.” Chimney didn’t hesitate to obey. 

Everyone got kicked out a little while later so Maddie could get her first nursing lesson. Bobby turned to he and Albert, his face wearing what Christopher had called ‘that Dad look’. “Are you two okay? How long have you been here?” 

“Since -” A yawn cracked his jaw. “- seven.” 

Athena looked at her watch. “It’s nearly noon! You worked a twenty four hour yesterday!” 

“I know -” Buck yawned again. He wasn’t leaving. No one argued. 

-;

Albert disappeared to go take his midterm and Maddie slept. He must have dozed too because the next thing he knew, he was being poked in the shoulder by a small, sticky hand and when his eyes opened, there were a pair of yellow rimmed glasses inches from his face. “Hey Christopher.” A familiar giggle is his answer. Buck rises slowly from the chair, stretching out the crick in his neck. “When did you guys get here?” 

“A few minutes ago,” Eddie replies. He holds the largest bouquet of multicolored lilies in his right hand, his other wrapped around Christopher’s shoulder. “Like them? Christopher picked them out for Maddie.” 

“They’re from me!” The sweet boy confirmed with a heavy nod of his head. “Will aunt Maddie like them?” 

Buck took the flowers when Eddie offered them. “Buddy, she’s gonna love them. She’s also going to give you a big kiss in thanks.” 

Christopher scrunches up his face rather adorably. “Eeeewwwww!” 

True to his word, Maddie smacks a big kiss onto Christopher’s forehead after taking the flowers. “These are beautiful! Thank you so much, sweetie.” 

“Do you like them?” Christopher asked, his happiness reminding Buck of a small puppy. “Really?” 

Maddie held out her arms after handing the flowers to Chimney and Eddie scooped his son up with ease and placed him on the side of the bed so he could scoot into her embrace. “They are wonderful and so are you.” 

“Hey -” Chimney holds up one brilliant red lily that had fallen from the bouquet, brandishing it like a weapon. “ _Lilly._ But spelled with two L’s. _”_

Over the top of Christopher’s curls, Maddie gasped. “ _Yes.”_

Eddie looked over at Buck. “ _What’s happening?”_ he asked in the same tone of voice. 

“I think they just picked a name.” 

-;

“Lilly Something Buckley-Han. She needs a middle name.” 

“Destiny?”

“Albert, I am not naming my child ‘Destiny’.” 

“Duran?” 

“Duran? As in Duran Duran?” 

“Beauregard?” 

_“Albert.”_ Albert ducked to avoid the pen that Chimney threw at his head. 

-;

He was ready to leave. He certainly didn't want too, but even Maddie's nurses were threatening him with sedation if he didn't go home. How shitty did he look?

Bobby had benched him for the next three days and for the first time in forever, Buck didn’t argue with him. _“Get some rest, and enjoy your niece.”_

“I love you, I’ll see you in the morning,” He kissed Maddie’s head, carefully stepping over Chimney’s stretched out legs from where he slept in the chair to lean over the bassinette. A nurse had tried to take Lilly away to the nursery and Buck had been sure Maddie was going to rip the nurse’s face off at that suggestion. “Good night, Mango. I love you.” 

“Evan, wait.” Buck turned on his heel, looking over at his sister. “I chose your middle name. Did you know that?” _No. No he did not know that_. His legs carried him back to his sister. “I kept trying to make Daniel do it, I was terrified I was going to pick the wrong name. He told me I was being an idiot and to just pick something. And then one day, a few days before you were born, it just dawned on me. My teacher was reading us a book about a boy who journeyed to a magical mountain and he was so brave and caring. His name was Noah. _”_ She laughed softly, eyes glazed and lost in the memory. “I just thought it was so beautiful. Daniel loved it and - and that was it.” A tear spills down her cheek that he thumbs away. Maddie catches his hand in hers. “I want you to give Lilly her middle name. _Please.”_

 _That_ he was not expecting. 

But he knows it immediately. The name had been in his heart and his mind for years, one that he had filed away for his own child. As Buck looked over at Lilly sleeping peacefully in her bassinet, he just knew. Maddie handed him the same pen that Chimney had thrown at Albert’s head and he wrote it down on the birth certificate. “I’ll see you in the morning.” 

Albert startled awake when Buck slapped his chest. “Wha - who dat?” 

“Get up, we’re going home.” Albert followed him without a word, waving at Maddie before he did. 

-;

Maddie didn’t look at the birth certificate until after they had gone, her hand trembling just a bit as she flips the paper over. The pen rolls off her little table and she doesn’t care. “You okay?” Chimney whispers. 

“Yeah.” 

The name gazes back at her from the smudged paper. _Lilly Morgan Buckley-Han._ Chimney pushed himself to his feet, leaning over the bassinet. “Welcome to the world, Lilly Morgan Buckley-Han.” Lilly opened her eyes and let out a tiny grunt. Chimney eased his hands underneath her, already an expert, and lifted her up against his chest. “It’s going to be a wild ride. Some parts are not going to be easy,” His gaze flickers to Maddie, soft and filled with so much. “But you’re going to be just fine.” 

-;

_“Booyah!”_

Despite being startled, Buck barely moved at Albert’s little jump in the air. “What’s the booyah for?” 

Albert waved his phone under his nose. “I got a 92 on my bio midterm!” 

Buck grabbed his hand, he was getting dizzy watching the phone wave back and forth and his eyes rested on the numbers on the screen. _Midterm Results 92%._ “That’s fantastic. I’m really happy for you. I’m surprised your teacher got it graded so fast.” 

“He usually gets most of our stuff back to us within a few hours. I like to call him the ‘Speed Demon’. Not to his face though.” 

Shoving his hands deep into his pockets, Buck looked out ahead at the setting Los Angeles sun. “Hey, do you feel like taking a quick walk with me?” Albert nodded and fell into step beside him. They had gotten home about an hour ago, both too tired to actually do anything, but too wired to sleep. Somehow they had both wound up back outside, breathing in the cooling early evening air. Chimney had been sending them both dozens of pictures of Lilly, capturing every little stretch and wiggle, and a few of Maddie holding her. 

“Where are we going?” Albert asked. 

Shrugging, Buck bumped his shoulder with his own. “I’ll figure it out when we get there.” Within ten minutes, he does. There’s an office store up ahead on the boardwalk and his feet carry him through the doors. The clerk greets them with a smile and a request for them to holler if they need any help. 

Without questioning, Albert follows him to the supply section, stopping to plop himself into one of the swivel chairs and stretch out. “Aaahhh this is the life!” Buck rolled his eyes and glanced around at the boxes of books and piles of pens and packages of paper. He finds the object of his desire a moment later in the form of a thick, leather bound journal, holding it up with an exclamation of glee. “Really? A journal? Couldn’t you have ordered that off of Amazon?” 

“Needed it tonight. And it’s always best to support your small businesses,” Buck walked over to the front to pay, wincing a bit at the price. “Thanks, have a good night. Come on, Albert.” 

“Yes dear,” Buck ignored the snort from the clerk, making sure to punch Albert’s shoulder when he catches up. 

-;

A long hot shower later, Buck slid into bed with a fatigued sigh. The journal rested on his night stand, a ball point pen resting on top. The numbers on his digital clock reflected back that it was almost midnight and he had been awake for nearly eighteen hours. He had to sleep but for some reason it just wasn’t claiming him. When he reaches for the journal, the weight of it is almost too much on his fingertips and it nearly slips from his grip. The pen falls to the floor and he swears up a blue streak as he struggles to reach for it, finally finding success after a moment. 

As he settles, his hand rests on the leather cover, his fingertips curling to push it up. The first page is crisp, clean, and when he attempts to write, he leaves a huge ink splot in the upper corner. “Of course.” The phone dings on his nightstand and he smiles at the new picture Chimney had sent. Lilly had busted out of her swaddled wrappings, her arms and legs spread out like a starfish. 

After saving the photo as his new wallpaper, he begins to write. 

_._

_._

_March 23rd, 2021._

_Dear Lilly Morgan Buckey-Han, my niece._

_Holy crap that looks weird. My niece. My niece. Today you were born. You came into the world at 7:23 am, screaming at the top of your lungs and mad as hell. I could tell already that you are going to be a force to be reckoned with. And that’s the way it should be. (But seriously why did you have to come so early in the morning?)_

_Kid, you are so lucky. Like, seriously, so ~~fucking~~ freaking lucky. You have the most amazing parents in the world. They are the best. Your mom practically raised my annoying self, and your dad is - he just is. I don’t really know how to describe them. You’ll find out for yourself rather soon. Believe me, it won’t be easy. But being a Buckley is never easy. You’re not just a Buckley though, you’re a Han. You have this built in incredible-ness (is that a word? I’m not sure.) that just comes with the territory._

_I expect you will be just like your dad. Very patient, very kind. But there will be a touch of dumbassery from your uncle Albert (I mean that with love, Albert since I know you are reading this) and of course from me. And then you will have your mom’s badassery. Don’t put up with any crap, Lily. Not from anyone in your life. Be good. Be kind. But take no shit._

_I wish you an incredible life, my girl._

_Love, Uncle Evan._

.

.

**Author's Note:**

> This idea popped into my head after 4x04. Baby boxes now officially suck, but what if Buck started a journal for his niece instead? And the four main writers are her parents and her two uncles, documenting all the wonderful moments of her life for her to read later on. 
> 
> This is gonna be sappy as heck, folks. Enjoy the ride. 
> 
> Oh and leave kudos/comments, pretty please. :D


End file.
